Disguises
by Phantom Shyraz
Summary: The reason for disguises can be as simple as helping out a friend in need.
1. Parents Day

**Disguises**

Disclaimer: The works of Detective Conan and Magic Kaito belongs to Gosho Aoyama-sensei.

A/N: This was stuck in my head for some time, bit of fluff. No relationships (unless you squint really, really hard), though Kaito here is a chronic flirt and Conan/Shinichi will always be prone to blushing.

* * *

 **Parent Day**

Like any other school day, the afternoon was bright and sunny. For once, the rest of the Detective Boys (not including a certain little scientist, she was in a league of her own) had decided they each have something _very important_ to do and left Conan to his own device (Haibara had opted to give Conan her usual bland stare and stated she was coming up with a breakthrough in her work so if he could be so _kind_ to not bring her any crimes. Translated, it would mean for Conan to stay out of her hair for the next couple of days). This rare chance of solitude was tainted by a small slip of paper, now held loosely in his hands.

Conan had decided take a different path back to the Mouri Agency today. Even after his extended stay, the place has yet to feel like home. His feet took him to a rather secluded and empty park filled with the usual slide, sandbox, merry-go-round, and swings. Not wanting to return this early, as there was no one else in the agency this afternoon with Kogoro out on an investigation and Ran having late practice, Conan placed his small backpack against the railings fencing around the swings. Taking a seat on on the swings itself, his feet barely scraped the rough sandy surface underneath as he cautiously swung his legs to generate just enough momentum to move. Instead of gripping onto the chains with his hands, he wrapped his arms around the chain to free up his hand to hold an innocuously pink slip. His eyes were not really focusing on the words, rather they looked beyond the black text. It was a simple memo notifying guardians and parents of the upcoming Parent Day in Beika Elementary. Conan's grip tighten at the words, wrinkling the piece of paper in the process.

"A penny for your thought?" Conan was startled by the familiar voice. He nearly jumped out of the swings when a five yen coin appeared in his line of sight. Following the arm, his eyes rested on features, not to unlike his own were he in his original age. The face in front of him was a more mature, yet playful, version of his current self, with similarly bright eyes and angular jaws, only with less of the baby fat and more defined features. The smile opened as though wanting to break the face.

"Kaito, what are you doing here?" The prankster magician with sticky fingers (both literally and in the metaphorical sense as there were traces of sugar on the finger tips) and a penchant for all things shiny stood directly in front with a wide grin that would have many people screaming for the hills. Fortunately (or unfortunately) Conan was immune to such a look and in return, gave a bored stare. He projected his tiredness out towards the magician, hoping he would leave him be.

"I was in the neighbourhood. Did you know they have a really great selection of crafts store here? It was like a dream come true, they have all colours and styles of duct tape." Kaito spread his arms in a grand gesture as he twirled around, mimicking a child in a candy store.

"Do I really want to know what you have planned?" Conan was too used to the pranks and strangeness of the magician. "Or should I start sending anonymous warnings to school about a pranking spree?"

Once, some time seemingly long ago, they were friends. Conan, or Shinichi at the time, had accidentally bumped into the budding magician during a trip to Shinjuku. They remarked on their similarities and managed to strike a friendship. Then, the Conan incident happened and Shinichi, fearing he might bring misfortune towards his new found friend of the time, cut all contact. It was not until the first KID heist after a long time when they accidentally met again on the streets, as Conan and Kaito, where Kaito scrutinised him upon 'initial' meeting. Conan had been terrified his secret would be exposed in front of Ran (he knew how observant and insightful the magician could be, not to mention smart and intelligent. He would have to be to come up with the numerous pranks and magic tricks that sometimes, though not often, baffle Shinichi himself), who had roped Conan into the impromptu shopping trip. But all Kaito did was stare until Ran became irritated and threatened Kaito. After the misunderstandings were cleared, they managed to bond again over tea and cakes (Ran had forbidden Conan to order ice coffee) and exchanged numbers. At the time, Ran had mentioned something like needing a babysitter, to which Conan only frowned but said nothing as he is physically seven even if his mind was ten years older. Kaito had agreed readily and was actually drafted into being a babysitter mere hours before the KID heist for the Suzuki black pearl. Conan remembered it had something to do with Sonoko inviting Ran to the day spa and Kogoro wanting to dress to impress hence went to the salon or something. He could not remember the specifics. Only that Kaito had been trying to distract him with kiddy magic. Later, at the KID heist, Conan recognised some of the tells KID had exemplified and confronted the phantom thief (he could still remember how the thief fretted over a broken phone, Conan wished he had a camera at the time to immortalize the image). KID denied of course, as would any other criminal, and Conan did not have any proof. It was not until much later, and several more heist (and subsequently tense babysitting sessions) that Conan could not take it any longer and confronted Kaito once more. Thankfully, this time he had more proof in the form of a conversation he stealthily recorded between himself and his parents. His father had admitted to chasing the former KID (after Conan had laid out his reasons and findings) and his mother had commented on a Kuroba Toichi being her teacher and apt at disguise as well as a master magician. One thing led to another and his father then made the offhanded comment of "Kuroba Toichi is not only a skilled magician, he was skilled at casting illusions over his audience, to make them see a different person each time" which led to Conan grilling his father and finally admission of his suspicions about Kuroba Toichi being the former KID.

After that particularly dreadful babysitting session, Kaito seemingly dropped off the radar and had not contacted for a long time. That was until several months ago when Kaito, dressed as KID, dropped by a visit in the middle of the night to the Mouri Agency when Conan was just sitting out on the roof. They finally talked, over a thermos of hot coffee and chocolate that the thief had been carrying with him for the purpose of this visit, admitted to several deep dark secrets before exposing each of their own identity. Conan felt he was obligated to tell the truth if KID, or Kaito at the time, decided to confide in him. The magician had laughed initially before becoming too serious and even suggested taking Conan to see a particular witch to see whether there were alternative means to the poison (" _After all, poisons and antidotes are just right up a witch's alley!"_ ). Their friendship was mended that evening and Kaito became another staple to Conan's strange life.

"No need to send in letters. It's all harmless fun." Kaito winked with a cheshire grin. Whatever the magician planned, it was bound to be something spectacular.

"Send me photos will you? I need a good laugh every now and then." Conan was not the type to turn down free entertainment, even at the expense of others. Shinichi had his own share of mischief (mostly to skive out of class and investigate) so he could appreciate such pranks.

"No problem. Anything to turn that frown upside down." At Kaito's words, Conan's eyes were once again drawn towards the pink slip of paper. "So? What has that piece of paper done to earn your wrath?"

"Huh?" Conan was not aware he was trying to burn holes into the paper, though he very much loved to. "Oh, this? It's nothing really…"

Kaito raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

"Alright, it's just the usual event in school. Parent Day."

"Ah." Understanding dawned on Kaito's face, who took the swing adjacent to Conan's. "That bad huh?"

"Not really, just tedious. The first time, as in the actual first time, neither of my parents could make it to any of the Parents Day. For obvious reasons really. It would have been a security nightmare for people to know a famous actress and author decided to show up at the elementary school I had been enrolled in." His tuition had been kept as hush-hush, until his debut as a detective that is. When the media caught wind of the up-and-rising star of the police, they flocked towards Teitan High in their masses and camped out by the entrance. The school complained and had to set up designated areas so not to disrupt other students from going to school. "Then the second time, last year I think it was, Ran and Occhan had initially wanted to come. For obvious reasons, Ran could not come seeing as she was also in school, and Occhan? Well, I've learnt not to expect much from him."

"So basically, you're saying you never had much of a childhood to begin with? Neither could you enjoy this second childhood." Absently, Kaito shuffled a deck of cards that miraculously appeared out of nowhere. Conan's motions stopped as he turned his attention to the cards flying between the magician's hands in wide arcs and a flurry of motion. "At least I had it better. Probably because the Nakamoris kind of adopted me so when the keibu came to see Aoko during those times, he was also coming to see me. Then there was my mother who comes and goes as she pleases, but she had come for several of my Parent Day events during elementary school."

"Good for you." Conan had acknowledged earlier on that both of their families were slightly dysfunctional. Flighty parents, second identities, empty house that was always seems too large for habitation, a strange second family, the list goes on.

"So?" With a puff of smoke, the pink slip of paper disappeared from Conan's hands, replacing it with the same deck of cards the Kaito had be shuffling. Kaito was about to actually read the slip but Conan was quick to react and snatched it back from the sticky hands.

"You're being nosy." He made a deliberate motion to stuff the note back into his backpack. "Shouldn't you go home now?"

"Shouldn't you? Little boys shouldn't stay out so late after school. Why, what if some nefarious criminal sneaks up on you and kidnaps you! The horror!" Kaito dramatically placed a hand over his forehead and fell backwards out of the swing in a manner that Conan thought would have the magician banging his head on the ground. Instead, Kaito did a quick backwards roll and stood up on his feet.

"Like you?" Conan leaned on the railings as he watched the magician stretch his long limbs. With the way he was moving, Conan had to wonder if there were any bones in the magician's body.

"Of course not. I'm not nefarious, only mischievous. Different things my little detective." Kaito teased, having caught Conan staring, and grinned widely. Conan avoided eye contact and turned to face the opposite direction. As a show of goodwill, Kaito placed the backpack onto Conan's back before giving a little push. "Come on. I believe we still have time for a trip to the convenience store to grab some ice-cream. We're both long overdue for one."

"You have an unhealthy addiction to all things sweet…"

"Oh? I'm only drawn to things that I _find_ sweet and there's nothing sweeter than spending time with my favourite detective." Kaito teased again, this time drawing in a blush from Conan. "And you're one to talk about addiction, what about your constant worship of a certain caffeinated beverage Mr Coffee-for-blood?"

They each bought their favourite treat, earning strange looks from the cashier by the counter (it was a rather cool day outside, not the type to warrant icy treats), and passed the afternoon outside of the convenience store chatting about inane topics. From films they liked (" _I can't believe you like Gomera Movies. You_ love _mysteries! You even have multiple versions of Sherlock Holmes!_ ") to the types of shenanigans they had (" _Seriously? You? The straight-laced detective causing havoc in chemistry just to prove some stranger's alibi?_ ") their physical closeness had many passerbys wonder why two very different, age-wise, boys could chat like they were close friends.

It was not until later on in the evening when Conan was packing his bag for the next school day when he found something extra, and something missing, from the bag. A white cardstock fell from between two workbooks with the words:

 _Not everyone can carry pink._

and a small caricature drawn in bold ink (glittery purple coloured) pen. The caricature lacked the usual hat and monocle but instead had a bed of messy hair and a dove sitting on top. Conan did not know whether to smile and grin or frown and curse. He disliked having someone meddling in his business but at the same time, Kaito managed to do so with his own usual quirky antics that, strangely enough, makes the whole ordeal more comforting.

Taking out his phone, his Shinichi phone not the Conan one, he unlocked it with the 12-digit passcode. Even though Conan appreciated the gesture, it does not mean Conan would just allow the magician to do as he pleased.

- _You didn't write a heist note before stealing. I am liable to call in the correct authorities as this is not the MO I'm used to seeing in KID. Must be an imposter._ \- An equally teasing message written and sent, Conan felt marginally better at being robbed.

- _But that's where you're wrong my little detective. I'm just making sure certain things will fall into the correct hands. Surely returning lost property is an act of a model citizen._ \- The reply came within minutes.

- _I'm missing important document here. If anything, the stolen document should be returned to me._ \- Hiding the phone underneath the pillow, Conan went to prepare for bed. Surely the magician would not respond to texts so diligently.

But it seems Conan's speculations were wrong for the five minute break to the bathroom yielded multiple messages in rapid succession.

- _I'm ensuring the document arrives at the correct hands, that is not really wrong of me._ -

- _Then again, the correct hands are my own hands so...you get the drill_.-

- _Say, I think I heard from the grapevine that Edogawa Fumiyo appeared before, so? What's she like?_ -

- _Don't tell me, the relationship between Edogawa Conan and Edogawa Fumiyo is like the one you're having with your mother right now. Long distance._ -

- _You know, it really does say a lot on how your mind works, not being able to lie even within the confines of a pre-set character._ -

- _Or is it just because critics lack the imagination to conjure stories and images?_ -

- _Hey! Are you ignoring me?!_ -

- _No wait, don't answer that. You're away from the phone right? It is rather late and little boys need sleep~_ -

- _I'm beginning to think you're only pretending to sleep though. No little boys in this day and age sleep so early. They'll be playing with their phones, or reading manga or something._ -

- _You really should act more your age you know. It's not doing your disguise any good._ -

- _Unless you're actually a 60y/o man disguising as a high-school student then unfortunately was caught up in a sinister plot and regressed to a 7y/o?_ -

Conan had to hold back the laughter bubbling in his chest as he typed his reply. - _You know, I'm really tempted to not reply to your messages seeing as you're quite capable of having a conversation all on your own. There's really no need for my input._ -

- _Yay! My detective is back! Huzzah!_ \- The enthusiasm and energy radiating from the text was palpable.

- _Have you been eating chocolates? Wait, you won't act like that on chocolate alone. Then coffee AND chocolate? What insane person would feed you those?_ \- Conan has seen the magician on a sugar high, and those were all prank filled. This however, spoke of something else. There was a sense of focus to his energy. With the magician's intelligence, studying for school or homework does not require such high concentration of focus. This leaves only one other explanation.

- _No one. I just fixed myself a little drink. After all, I'll need all my energies right now!_ -

- _You're planning a heist? At this time of night?_ \- Conan glanced at the clock, the hands show a couple of minutes past ten in the evening, not exactly late but late enough that those needing to wake up early, like students, would be preparing for bed. Or in some cases, might be cramming in the last minute homework. Though Conan doubted the magician was working on homework. If anything, it would be his _extra-curricula_ activities that he was concentrating on.

- _This is the exact time when my brain is most active! And when the most creative thoughts spring to life I'll have you know!_ \- The sense of confidence oozed out of the words.

- _I can't believe you._ \- Conan decided just silencing his phone will not do, so he opted to switch it off altogether. Saves having to recharge his phone the next day. Hopefully, the magician would not deem his lack of reply as an excuse for a visit in-person.

When Parents Day came, Conan was dreading it. His legs felt extremely heavy as he treaded his way towards the school. The Detective Boys chatted beside him, all excited about having their parents visiting them in school. Not even Haibara, the ever stoic scientist, was exempted from this enthusiasm.

"Even you're excited?" Conan asked once out of Ran's earshot. The girl was sadden by the prospect of not being able to participate once more.

"Is it so difficult to comprehend Edogawa-kun? Last year, the professor was incapacitate because of the flu. This year, he said he'll attend."

"And you don't find all this...demeaning somehow? Putting on a show?" Conan stared in disbelief. They may look like young children, but neither of them were actually children in the mind.

"I've never had a chance." She shrugged and understanding dawned on Conan. Before, when she had been Miyano Shiho, she would never have the opportunity for her parents to visit her in school. Her sister would have been busy with whatever deeds The Organisation had required of her to allow her the freedom and time for such a visit. In a sense, this would be her first normal childhood, with a quasi uncle in the form of the Professor and an extended family with the Kudo's and Edogawa's (which makes Conan some form of cousin. This made him shudder, earning a strange look from the girl in question).

"Well, at least Kobayashi-sensei wouldn't be a nervous wreck this time around…" Conan still remembered the last Parent Day, the first time for the young teacher at Beika Elementary.

The lockers were a hive of activity as children's chatters echoed in the room. Most of the younger girls, and many in their year level, were fiddling with their clothes, tying their pigtails and whatnots. Conan could not imagine why they thought they needed to straighten up their appearance so early in the day when the parents would not be arriving until an hour later.

"You're not looking forward to it yourself?" Haibara asked after what seems like an eternity as they walked towards the classroom. The rest of the Detective Boys had already ran ahead, clearly unable to contain the energy.

"I'm dreading it actually." Conan admitted as he bent down to retrieve his shoes.

"You're hoping Edogawa Fumiyo would not be making a sudden appearance then." There was a small smile playing on her face. No doubt recalling the story she heard about the not-kidnap by Conan's supposed mother.

"I'm thinking it would be worst." Settling down in his seat, Conan ignored Haibara's twerk of eyebrow and pulled out a novel. He had changed the cover of the book to show the title of some random children short story collection book but the inside text was filled with kanji that was definitely more advanced than what was being at the moment.

"What could possibly be worst?"

After roll-call, parents began to arrive. Their lessons were changed around slightly to accommodate for Parents Day, where there was now a short break in between roll-call and the start of the lesson. As the parents arrived, they settled at the back of the room. Several of the children waved at their parents, some showing an inclination to run over to their parent but remained seated. The Professor came in and stood at the corner close to the windows. Just before the start of the lesson, a final adult arrive with a huff and an apologetic bow. The chubby face and short-cropped hair, coupled with bright blue eyes, had Conan dawning in recognition. He resisted the urge to bang his head on the wooden table.

"You ok Edogawa-kun?" Haibara asked in a rather uncharacteristically concerned manner.

"Nothing I can do to fix it now. Though _why_?" He hid his whine. "Why must he come?"

Haibara glanced over at the back where a certain pair of dark blue eyes seems to be trained on them at the moment. It took her a moment to pinpoint the reason for such intensity before she looked at the closeness between herself and Conan. She could not help but smirk at the possibilities.

"I'm taking that you have someone in the audience?" She took care to keep her voice down and paid enough attention to the front of the room to not arouse any suspicion.

"Unfortunately. I should have known better than to tell…"

"You don't seem as upset as you sound though." She pointed out. Conan's looked at her suspiciously. "Well, you're whining and that's out of character already. Not to mention you seemed less tense and paranoid after that last adult came in."

"What do you mean?" He frowned. Sure, he managed to relax a little since the chubby-faced man showed up. But that did not mean he was paranoid.

"Don't kid. You've been tense ever since the first adult came in. I was as well seeing as unsavoury characters could easily slip into the classroom on Parent Day without anyone knowing better." It had been a continual problem for both of them to be so high-strung during the day and whenever they were out in public. A problem that is both useful and draining. On the upside, it allows them to be more observant about their surroundings, alerting them to possible dangers. On the flipside, it played havoc on their nerves and concentration. They were always in a state of constant fear of being exposed and this fear was only alleviated when they were interacting with children. Afterall, it was unlikely The Organisation had child operatives.

"I don't understand you sometimes." Shaking his head, Conan decided to play this off as Haibara just having one of her weird moments and paid more attention to the rather boring worksheet than at the strange stares from the girl.

The class breezed through maths and language, Parent Day usually means the day ends at around lunch and everyone was excited at the prospect of ending school early. However, their final lesson, or the final act of the day in Conan's mind, was music.

"We normally have music later on in the week. But we've decided to swap it around this week. The children will be performing a music piece they have been rehearsing for the past month." Kobayashi announced. It was not unusual for teachers to change the lesson plan around and it seems many of the parents appreciated the gesture. Many took out their phones and set them up to record. Even the Professor took out a handy-cam from his many pockets and began focusing on the front of the classroom. Glancing over at the chubby individual by the door, Conan saw a glint of lens from the phone. But he did not believe that was the only video camera he brought to the inside of the classroom.

The children all gathered to the front, positioning themselves at their designated place. Kobayashi moved away to the side, dragging the lectern with her, to give them more space. Conan, on the other hand, approached the standing piano inside the room. Kobayashi looked slightly nervous even though she was not the one performing. Not that Conan could blame her, seeing as it would have been the first time the others would have him on the piano as accompaniment. It was an accident, a nice sort of accident, that had Conan on the piano rather than making a fool of himself by not being able to sing.

During a rather boring afternoon, where the Detective Boys were catching up on their reading homework in library with Haibara overseeing them, Conan wandered down the silent halls of the school to arrive at one of the lesser used music room. It was kept in a relatively clean condition, some might say it was too clean given only the janitor comes here once a week. Not many of the classes use Music Room 2 as it was said to be haunted (this story started sometime during his first childhood and at the time, Shinichi had confirmed with his eyes that there were no hauntings whatsoever. Though it had been used as a secret place between several teachers for a _secluded meeting_ ). Conan walked over to the upright piano to the side and ran his hand over the cover. Not a speck of dust lingered. Carefully, he lifted the covers and tested out the keys, quite surprised to hear that they were still in tune. Not having much else to do to pass the time (unless he felt like returning to the library where he would be confined to reading some boring children books) he decided to play the piano, starting off with a simple piece off the top of his head. At the end of his fifth piece, Conan heard clapping from the doors and he immediately jumped out of his seat. Standing in awe was Kobayashi, who then commented on whether Conan would like to perform during a school assembly. Conan declined of course, but that gave him an idea. He casually mentioned how horrible he was at singing and that he knew of the intended performance during Parent Day (Kobayashi has yet to inform the class but it was rather obvious with the timing and the multiple practices of the same song during music lessons) and planted the suggestion of perhaps he could play the accompaniment instead.

Kobayashi had not made any further indications until two week sago where she actually acquiesced to Conan's suggestions and presented him with the music score for the song. Last week, they were supposed to rehearse together during music lesson but there had been an emergency assembly that cut into their time. One thing led to another and this would be the first time everyone was together. The children looked sceptical but they were all more relieved at not having Conan being part of the vocals. The Detective Boys looked quite proud to see Conan seated at the piano.

Seeing Kobayashi nod, Conan started the intro to the song, keeping an ear out on the children's singing to adjust his tempo. It was rare he was able to perform with people instead of for others, this included his experience as Shinichi. It was thrilling and satisfying in its own way. Though Conan had to resist the urge to do some improvisation at the end as the outro, not wanting to leave the song so bland, but at the same time he was fully aware he should not put too much attention to himself (he was already intriguing enough the moment he sat in front of the piano, he had heard several questioning mutters from the parents at the back). When the round of applause sounded, the children chattered and ran towards their parents, to which Kobayashi announced to be the end of the day. Children lingered with their parents at the back, pointing and showing off the artworks on display. The Detective Boys all pulled their parents to their seats, with the Professor walking calmly behind them. Each adult, with the exception of the Professor, had expressed surprise at Conan being able to play the piano. Haibara's smirk at his embarrassment made Conan groan and he just knew he would be roped into teaching the children at a later time.

"Conan-kun, that was wonderful!" The chubby-faced individual approached their location, the adults immediately made space though both Haibara and the Professor seemed to stiffen. "I haven't seen you for so long!" He reached out for a hug and Conan thought to resist but knew by resisting, there would be retaliation of the humiliating kind. Instead, he suffered through the bone crushing hug. "Why don't you introduce me to you friends now?"

"Yea Conan-kun. Who's this? Is he like Yukiko-oneesan?" Ayumi, ever curious, looked between Conan and the stranger.

Conan paused for a moment, just enough time to devise a persona. "This is Katsuki-nii, my brother." The subsequent grin on the chubby face spoke of approval.

"Nice to meet you all, I'm Edogawa Katsuki." He tipped his head in acknowledgement. "I came back just in time to know about Parent Day. Seems like I'm quite lucky wouldn't you say Conan-kun?"

"Yea…lucky…" Conan did not believe it one bit. "More like stalking I'd say." He added in a soft mutter only Haibara could hear. She turned to give him a questioning gaze, to which he replied "he's not dangerous. Only annoying."

Shrugging, Haibara seems to trust his words, and turned back to the inane chatter the group was having. Katsuki was having a grand time weaving stories about their fictitious childhood, which apparently included a mother who liked to crossdress her children. He even managed to pull up some pictures (Conan had to wonder how he managed to have his hands on those photos. Last he remembered, they were locked up in a drawer inside his room).

The classroom slowly emptied itself and one by one, the Detective Boys said their goodbyes leaving only Haibara, the Professor, Conan and Katsuki standing in the room.

"Well, this is quite entertaining." Haibara commented, laying a rather harsh glare at Katsuki. There was a moment when understanding dawned, as though she finally made the correct connection between the person in front of her and someone else. With that particular realisation, she decided to issue the necessary warning. " _Katsuki-nii_ was it? Know that if you hurt him in any way...well, let's just say I know enough about chemicals to render you to a slobbering mess in the middle of the streets."

"Haibara, what are you talking about?" Confused, Conan looked at Katsuki for explanation for he seemed to know what she was hinting at. Katsuki gave a rather nervous chuckle in response.

"Don't you worry little lady, I'll make sure to take good care of him."

Few more scrutinizing minutes under the intense atmosphere, Haibara finally let go of the tension and tugged at the Professor. "We'll be leaving now. We'll call Ran-san and say you're going to be with family for the rest of the week." She had full confidence that the person in front of him would not bring harm to the small detective

"It's only Tuesday now though." Frowning, Conan was not sure what the girl was trying to do.

"You'll need time for some _family bonding_ seeing as your brother finally came to visit you after such a long time." The look she shared with Katsuki was one that made Conan suspicious. "I'm sure your _Katsuki-nii_ had made the required excuse with the school to have to exempted from school this week."

"You're too observant." He tipped his head in appreciation. "Nothing can escape you."

"Please, don't underestimate me. The only reason none of the others detected it was because the kids were too young and the parents were all fooled by your act. I just happen to be young enough not to fall for your flirtatious comments and close enough to see the signs."

"Many thanks for you help then." He presented her with a yellow rose. "Maybe I shall call on you next time to collaborate?"

"Don't expect me to help you all the time." Haibara left the Professor by the door, who looked more confused that Conan at the exchange of words, and stood before Conan. She rummaged through her bag to produce a small pill case. "I was going to ask you to come over and test these during the weekend. But seeing as you'll be with family, well, I'm sure he has the necessary equipment to take the readings and samples I need." She quickly scribbled a list of things to do and pushed the paper into Katsuki's hands. "Make sure he stays alive. The pills should last 24hrs but this batch, the results I keep having were...well actually quite positive. So prepare for a surprise."

"Does this mean…?" Conan sudden had his hopes raise high.

"Might be. Good thing you have your _Katsuki-nii_ here huh?" She gave a backwards wave and left the pair alone.

"So…" Conan glanced up at the chubby face, "mind if I stayed over?"

"No problem." He ruffled Conan's hair affectionately, "stay for as long as you need."

 **-END-**


	2. Career Counselling

**Disguises**

Disclaimer: The works of Detective Conan and Magic Kaito belongs to Gosho Aoyama-sensei.

A/N: It's not a sequel, though it is happening in the same universe as the last one. So I've decided to put them under the same story name. Again, no relationships but we do have a playful, caring, and possibly manipulative Shinichi and a rather moody Kaito.

* * *

 **Career Counselling**

A seventeen year old sitting on a swing in a semi-abandoned playground was bound to draw attention. Unless said seventeen year old also has a penchant for playing pranks and doing strange things at all times, in which case the local residents and pedestrians would pay no mind to said individual. Mostly because they do not wish to meddle in other's affairs, but more accurately they do not wish to bring harm onto themselves by becoming involved with said individual (like becoming the next test subject for said seventeen years old latest project).

"So, any reason why you're sulking?" The swing next to said seventeen year old rattled as another joined in. This person seems to not have received the memo of needing to avoid.

"Not sulking…" Head bowed low, indigo eyes stared at the sandy ground in hopes of his current companion would leave.

"Sure, as though I believe you." The hinges of the swing squeaked and the chains rattled. Kaito sensed a small breeze from beside him indicating his current companion to be pushing on the swing. "You looked like a cat dunked in the river and had its fi-...food stolen."

"At least you had the decency to not use _that_ word." Kaito kicked at the sand, shoe catching onto a larger grain and sending it towards the edge of the swing. "What brings you all the way out to Ekoda?" Finally lifting his eyes off the ground, Kaito turned to look at his companion. Dressed in a clean suit, he stood on the seat of the swing and used his momentum to propel himself backwards and forwards by bending his knees at the peak of each swing. The little tuft on the back of his head remained still as ever even as the wind tries to ruffle the hair.

"I was in the neighbourhood and thought I'd drop by to say hi. Now that I'm me again, I thought you'd want to hang out some more. It does seem weird for a teen to hang out with a seven year-old all the time you know." He jumped off mid-swing, stumbling slightly on his land. "Huh, seems like I still need more time to adjust to my new height."

"Well, you came, you know, now isn't it time you leave?" Kaito used his hands to shoo away the meddlesome detective. "You have your own life now Shinichi, shouldn't you enjoy it to its fullest?"

"I am." He shrugged, "which is why I'm here right now." Standing toe-to-toe, Shinichi peered down at Kaito with hands on his hips. "You're down and as a friend, it would be indecent of me to leave you alone while looking like that. Who knows, you might be taken advantage of in your fragile state."

"Fragile? How am I fragile?" Kaito poked his finger on the chest in front of him. "I'm not the one with the compromised immune system mister. If anything, you're more likely to be taken advantaged of."

The smile from Shinichi at Kaito's outrage made Kaito even madder.

"And who gave you the right to come stomping over Ekoda anyways? Your territory's in Beika." Standing up to his full height instead of hunched over on the swing, Kaito glared at Shinichi.

"Finally, you're out of the slump." He sounded relieve at Kaito's outburst. "Did you know you've been here for...two hours in the same position?"

"Huh?" Kaito glanced over at his watch. Sure enough, two and a half hours had passed since he last checked. "Were you keeping an eye out for me? Since when?"

"I was at the school gates and was waving at you but you weren't paying attention. So I decided to follow." Shinichi shrugged, leaning on the railings and looking up at the clouds. "I kept my distance though, I knew you wanted time to be alone but I didn't think it would be safe in your condition."

"Oh." Kaito suddenly felt quite guilty at having shouted at Shinchi. He let himself drop back into the seat of the swing, which groaned at the sudden addition of weight.

"So? You want to tell me what managed to break you impeccable Poker Face? I mean it can't be worst than the confession, and the subsequent rejection, to Aoko-san." Kaito grimaced at the mention of the incident. "Wait you mean it's that level of bad?"

Kaito nodded. He had thought nothing could trump that incident. It was not disastrous per-se, only it left Kaito feeling like the scum of the Earth.

Aoko had, on one fine sunny afternoon during lunchtime in school, decided to confess her feelings to Kaito. As much as Kaito would have loved to accept it, he knew that once his KID story comes out, Aoko would want to skin him alive (or use him as a whack-a-mole, which was more up the girl's alley than manslaughter). So, he graciously, and gently, let her down as best he could. It still reduced Aoko to tears and Kaito had no choice but to bail out of school early. At that time, his legs took him to Beika and he ended up using the Kudo mansion as a hiding place. Only for its sole inhabitant to come back and find a near catatonic Kaito staring at nothing in the living room. After several tubs of ice-cream (Shinichi even brought out liquor from the cabinet to pour over the ice-cream stating that " _Even though we're underaged, I think you need something to take the edge off._ ") Kaito felt slightly better and managed to return to his normal cheerful self the next day. That is not to say there were no repercussion to the confession, Aoko seemed to have avoided him like a plague for a month before talking to him again. At which time, Kaito had managed to strike a truce with Hakuba and asked the annoying blond detective to keep an eye on Aoko when he disappeared to Beika everyday after school.

"So it's bad, but not in the disastrous sense." His companion looked thoughtful as he examined Kaito like a test subject. He had the urge to rant at Shinichi but decided it was too much effort and instead sank further into his seat. "Something to do with school then?"

Kaito winced again, this time more evident. The pair of them have decided not to lie, by omission or downright lie, to each other. It made sharing experience easier, especially with the first month since Shinichi became himself again. Kaito was there to help him readjust to the right mindset, to that of a teenager instead of a young child, and to also give semi-professional psychological advice (he had once masqueraded as a psychologist as recon for a possible heist target, which turned out to be a waste of time) on dealing with something akin to PTSD. With Shinichi jumping at every shadow and sound, Kaito knew he had to do something at the time to prevent his friend from mentally breaking down.

"Well, it couldn't be school work or exams seeing as you know the content back-to-front anyways. I'm sure most of the time, you're more likely to correct the teacher rather than the other way around." There was a sense of proudness in his voice. "But neither is it about Aoko-san, and by extension Hakuba. If it were the pair of them, you'd be ranting at me instead of sulking."

"Again, I must insist I'm not sulking." Kaito murmured.

"Fine. Brooding then." Shinichi shrugged as he continued his examination of Kaito.

Not wanting to take the scrutiny any longer, Kaito conjured up a small squishy ball and flung it at Shinichi. "I'm not an ant under the microscope!"

"No, you're more like a cockroach, resilient and hard to kill." Shinichi expertly caught the ball and began throwing it up and down. Kaito's eyes followed the ball, just in case his friend wanted to be sadistic and kick it back at him. "It's not about that supposed-witch is it?"

"You mean Akako?" Eyes never leaving the ball, Kaito contemplated adding another into the mix just to mess things up a bit. "And it's not _supposed_ , she's an actual witch. Said so herself."

"Hm…" More silence followed and Kaito hoped the detective would not come to the correct solution to his current state of mind. "Something to do with school, but not school work, not school friends. So…" Shinichi looked up and down, glancing to check at the school bag lying closeby. "Something important about school...so education advancements?"

Kaito sighed, wondering how it was possible for the detective to make such a connection. Shinichi seems satisfied at his form of reply.

"I thought they generally do the whole discussion and conversation about that during middle school, you know before we start focusing on certain aspects of education and before we start cramming school." Not that either of them had attended any cramming school, Shinichi for obvious reasons and Kaito for never showing much interest in his education in general.

"Yea, well, my school is strange. They did it once before we start senior high, giving us advice and whatnots about starting to look for university even if there were still a couple of years. But that was done as a whole year group. This time…."

"One-on-One?" He supplied helpfully.

"Worst, they're inviting our parents. And you know mine are…" Kaito waved his hands up in the air. It was something that did not need to be said. "Well, 'kaa-san would be ok to fly back in but I really don't want to bother her right now." He remembered the last video chat he had with his mother. She looked more relaxed now that The Organisation had been dismantled and KID could freely pursue Pandora without having to worry about being shot out of the air. She also has begun to enjoy her life more, seeing other people (even though her heart will always belong to his father) and going out more. Kaito did not want to bring her back to Japan, where all the sadness was.

"What about Jii? He's kind of like a guardian for you right?"

"He has his own things. Plus I don't want to add to his blood pressure. Once he actually hears about the antics I go through on a daily basis in school, he'll have a coronary." Kaito pulls pranks daily, if not hourly, and Jii would no doubt constantly worry about Kaito revealing himself too much or whether Kaito was learning anything should he actually hear about the pranks. "Doesn't your school have the same thing?"

"I managed to skip through it." Shinichi replied after a long pause. "We had one when I was in middle school, but I was away that day. I think it was an investigation. We had another one of those conversations, just one-on-one mind you not what you're school is doing, last year. And well, I wasn't there to attend to that."

Kaito suddenly felt guilty for bringing it up when he saw the dejected look on Shinichi's face. The whole deal with Conan was still quite a sore spot .

"So? What seems the problem then? I mean you practically know what you want to do in the future. It's all just a matter of making the right connections for you." Shinichi waved away Kaito's apologetic look as though it meant nothing. "I hate to say this but you were _destined_ to becoming a magician anyways, what with your constant pranking and need to better yourself in the art to surpass your father…"

"Yea...but I doubt the teachers want to hear that from me, and only me. I think they're still trying to steer me into the _correct path_ , like becoming a salaryman or something. You know how it is, they think that a magician is not actually a good career for anyone seeing as they're just performers with a fancier name." Kaito sighed once more, looking up into the sky as though hoping for a miracle or a sign. "No matter how many times I tell them it's a legitimate career, they still wanted to change me."

"If anything," Shinichi laid a hand on Kaito's shoulder as support, "I overheard many of my own teachers saying the same thing about me and my choice of career as a PI. I'm guessing the police force actually had a few selective words with them, well not Megure but someone higher up, in the hopes of pushing me to join the force or something."

"Do all adults in our lives want to control us or something?" Though their situations was not similar, Kaito could still empathise with Shinichi. "It's as though they think we can't make our own decisions."

"Normally, I'd say we can't but given our other identities and extra-curricula activities, I'd we're more than qualify. I mean we both live alone in a big house, taken care of ourselves as best we can. Heck, we even manage the household by making sure all the bills were paid and due maintenance was given to the place. We're more mature than our peers and yet…"

"Yet they still feel as though we're not mature or knowledgeable enough to take care of ourselves." Kaito finished his sentence. Both shared a look before sighing.

"Well, at least you might be better off than I am. I still have teachers breathing down my neck even though I kept up my grades and handed in all my work on time."

"I feel for you." Standing from his seat, feeling relatively better now that he managed to talk it over (or sulk even though he vehemently denied), he placed a comforting hand on Shinichi's shoulders. "Say, are you busy tonight? Want to grab dinner together? Somewhere by the station of course. Wouldn't want you to miss sleep or something." He picked up his bag and steered them out of the abandoned park before Shinichi could reply, knowing the detective would say yes just because neither wanted to eat alone.

"Sushi?" Shinichi teased to which Kaito hit him on the shoulder with his bag.

"No you idiot. And you say you're a detective." Kaito huffed with a shake of his head. "Noodles, possibly Ramen. A new place just opened and I think they're having a special or something. We can go check, otherwise it's going to be curry."

"So long as we're not reduced to buying convenience store bento and sharing it in a park or something."

"We did do that once didn't we? And ran into that mugging halfway through our meal…" Kaito chuckled at the memory. To stop that particular crime, they flung their bentos at the running criminal, temporarily blinding him, before Shinichi tackled the man into the ground and Kaito securing him with zip-ties.

xxxxxxx

Kaito stood outside of the classroom, dreading the upcoming meeting with the teacher. He had not told his mother or Jii about it in the end no matter how Shinichi had tried to persuade him otherwise. True, it might have been better if someone came with him to persuade the teacher to stop trying to push Kaito but there really was no one else. He could have asked the keibu to stand in but Aoko needed him more than Kaito (it was unfortunate the meeting was scheduled at the same time) and as much as Kaito feels the keibu was like a father to him, there was still this wall of lies that made it difficult for Kaito to rely on him.

Kaito looked somewhat longingly at his fellow classmate and his father as they exited the classroom. The father seemed to be consoling his son about something, possibly encouraging his son or relieving some fears. He knew many of his classmates were aiming quite high, too high in Kaito's perspective, and some were near impossible (like the one classmate who rarely scored high in tests wanting to go to Tohto University to study medicine. Really, that was more like a pipe dream rather than an achievable goal, perhaps if he studied harder instead of hanging out down at Shibuya he would have done better in Kaito's opinion). When the teacher inside called Kaito's name, Kaito stepped through the doorway with slight hesitance.

"Kuroba-kun. Only yourself?" The teacher sounded surprised.

"'Kaa-san is overseas at the moment." Kaito shrugged, taking the seat on the left closest to the window. It allowed him the view of the setting sun.

"Well. Let's review your existing scores alright? And maybe we can talk about university choices?" The teacher shuffled some papers, only to be interrupted by a knock on the door. "Yes?"

"Apologies." A middle aged man with striking blue eyes hidden behind square framed glasses and a head of messy black hair stood by the doorway. His mustache twitched with his every word. "Sorry I'm late, I just stepped off the plane and came as soon as I can."

"And you are…?" The teacher sounded suspicious of the newcomer. However, Kaito recognised him immediately, the intelligence behind those blue eyes were hard to mistaken for someone else's.

"I'm Kuroba Yuu, his uncle." He nodded at Kaito. The teacher gave a sceptical look as she turned towards Kaito.

Kaito nodded in return. "Yuu-san lives in the States and rarely comes to Japan so...I didn't really think he'd actually come for me…" Kaito sheepishly scratched his cheeks. "Last I remember you said you were in LA?"

"Business was finished early so I thought I'd come to make sure my nephew was actually doing fine by himself instead of relying on updates from video chats." He shrugged, casually taking the only empty seat in the front of the room. He glanced over at the papers strewn across the top, several having the name "Kuroba Kaito" written on the top right hand corner. He whistled, "pretty high marks you have there. Studying hard? Ever heard of taking it easy?"

"I have taken it easy." Kaito pouted like a child being told off by a parent. "Even my teachers can attest to that.

Yuu looked over to the seated teacher who nodded vigorously. "Kuroba-kun is...well...I hesitate this but he is…um..."

"A menace? Distraction? Trouble-maker?" Blue eyes twinkled with more amusement than should be present in current situation. "Well, he's more like his father then. You haven't seen some of the things Toichi did back in his days." Yuu ruffled Kaito's head with affection. "You're really growing up too much like your father you know."

"Yea, well, I want to surpass him one day." Shyly (or acting shyly), Kaito tries to avoid all manner of eye contact.

"I'm sure you will kiddo. Now Miss, I'm sure there were other things to discuss as well…?" Attention was once again placed onto the teacher, who blushed slightly when the pair of blue eye's were focusing intensely on her. Yuu then proceeded to produce a stem of rose from seemingly out of nowhere and presented it to the teacher.

"Um, well, yes…" Not sure how to respond, the teacher ducked her head. Yuu tucked the rose between her ear.

"Ahem." Kaito coughed from his seat, drawing the pair back into reality. "I think that's enough flirting from you Yuu-san." He pulled the still extended arm back.

"What can I say? We Kurobas are gentlemen and a gentleman never fails to present a lady with deserving flowers."

"Yea, yea. You just want an excuse to court my teacher." A playful hit to the chest landed with a thump. Kaito decided to ignore the person next to him to address the teacher. "Well? You said something about university choices? Just so you know, I'm not really going to apply for performing arts."

"You...aren't?" She seemed surprised.

"Of course not. It's not exactly the best route for becoming a magician." He stated as though it was common knowledge.

"What my nephew means is that there is more than plain performance when becoming a magician." Yuu added warmly for the teacher's benefit, "if I remembered correctly, your father majored in physics."

"Well, it's either that or aero engineering for me. Maybe chemistry? I do like smoke effects."

The teacher listened into the conversation as though an outsider would. Though it was expected as they seemed to be in their own world.

"Kuroba-san," she addressed, earning attention from the two directly opposite her. She tries to masquerade her embarrassment with a cough.

"Please, call me Yuu." The charming smile earned another blush, to which Kaito scoffed again at the action.

"What movie did you rip that out of? Trying to be suave? Pu-lease, spare me." He rolled his eyes, wondering how much more he needs to suffer through. His companion is definitely not a flirty person if he was copying lines from a movie.

"Oh? And you think you can do better?" The pair devolved into another _conversation_ (debate, or more accurately argument) about who can come up with the best lines.

"Ahem, Yuu-san." This time, she drew the attention of the correct man, "I actually wanted to see what your thoughts are with your nephew's choice in future careers…"

"Well, it's his future." He stated plainly, crossing his legs and leaning back into the seat in the process. "We might want what's best for them but ultimately, they will have to live through their lives so why not let them explore? Let children fall and hurt themselves first before extending that helping hand. It's no good if we dictate their lives. If Kaito-kun wants to become a magician, he can. And he could probably become world famous as well, I know he's been training since a toddler so he has the skills. But will he have the correct connection? That's something he needs to work at."

His logical reasoning seemed to have won the teacher over, it was either that or the teacher just nodded at everything he said. There was this swooning look on her face as though her soul had been taken by those bright blues eyes (Kaito could understand, people can get lost in those sapphire eyes. It was that mesmerizing, and sometimes even alluring).

"Well, Kuroba-kun. It seems you never had much problem with living your dream. As long as you keep up your studies, you'd probably have a wide choice for universities. Though try to cut back on the pranks for the sake of your fellow classmates. I think some of them might be coming down with paranoia, always trying to anticipate your actions." The teacher looked at Yuu with exasperation, as though wanting the man to contribute some words to dissuade such behaviour but Yuu did not humour her even if he did look slightly apologetic.

"Trying to tell a Kuroba to tone it down is like telling ice to stop melting in the sun. A useless action that only makes a mess of things." He said sagely with a nod before turning to face Kaito once more. "However, Kaito-kun, do think about your classmates for a bit. Refrain from pranks and tricks during actual class time. Other people needs to learn."

Kaito hung his head as though in shame though inwardly he was near to half sniggering at the way his teacher seems to buy into the ploy and half groaning at the bad acting by his companion. Kaito had thought that after the year and a bit under _method acting_ , where he was forced to play the part of an over inquisitive young boy, his companion would have been better at acting. But, in fact, his character comes off as a sleazy old man than a suave young man. Perhaps it was time Kaito taught him how to act.

Several more minutes of inane chat and bad flirting later, Kaito decided enough was enough and announced "Is that everything you wanted Miss? We have dinner appointments tonight so it's best we go now." It was quite rude but as long as they could leave quickly, Kaito can live with a slap on the wrist and a scold. Thankfully none came as both looked more sheepish than they were supposed to. Judging by the glazedy eyes on his teacher's face, Kaito was quite certain even with such bad acting, his companion managed to charm the wits out of her.

"I'm sorry to have kept the pair of you from your family time." She shuffled the papers back into a pile. "Kuroba-kun, if you have any more problems or maybe even questions on how to apply for certain universities…"

"I'll come find you Miss. Have a nice evening." Kaito bowed quickly and took hold on the sleeve of his companion. "Come on Yuu-san, we'll be late."

"Right, right. I'll see you in the future then Good Lady." A gentlemanly bow was interrupted with a harsh tug on his wrist and he lingered no longer in the room.

They walked in silence out of the school building, Kaito because he was somewhat mad, his companion because he was somewhat afraid at what Kaito would do. Coming up on the park, Yuu tapped on Kaito's shoulder and gestured with a nod of his head towards the direction of densely packed trees. Taking the hint, Kaito followed.

The park was empty, strangely enough, for normally kids would be running around and playing on the swings. This particular park was one Kaito often visits and performs at during weekends as it was in close proximity to many residential buildings and the children here loved his performances.

Yuu rummaged through the shrubbery, muttering variations of the phrase "where is it" before coming with a triumphant shout. He produced a khaki bag from the midst, still littered with stray leaves, and brought it out. Force was involved, of course, as one of the shrubs decided to keep the bag for itself and attached one of its branches to the handles, entangling it with its spiny hands. A game of tug-of-war later, Yuu took his prize and headed towards the empty men's bathroom. Kaito made several adjustments to the main door and managed to lock them both inside the room as Yuu headed into a stall with the bag in too.

"Seriously? What were you thinking?" Kaito turned his back towards the stall his companion entered, staring at the mirror just above the sink. "Why on earth did you even think it would be a good idea to come dressed as... _that_?"

"Well, you were complaining a week or so ago, so I thought why not." The voice echoed in the tiled room, coupled with the rustling of clothes. "Besides, you always said I could use the practice."

" _That_ was not a practice. That was a disaster! You should feel lucky that my teacher was a female and your face was so easy on the eyes." The door behind him opened and Kaito finally saw his look alike, with slightly messier hair than usual but the blue eyes were as bright as ever. The more Kaito looked at it, the more the eyes seemed to be sparkling in either mischief or amusement. Kaito scowled, "or were you just trying to pay back for the time I dressed as Katsuki?"

Shinichi shrugged, approaching the sink next to Kaito and turned on the tap. "Maybe." He washed his face with the cool water and liquid soup, the coloured foundation running off his face and staining the white porcelain. Normally, makeup would not be so easily removed with plain soap and water, but this particular concoction (made by the mad scientist currently standing next to him to help his own disguises) could be easily removed and applied. One that Shinichi managed to pilfered the last time he visited the Kuroba household. "So? Do you think it worked?"

"What worked?" Confused, Kaito reached to cup Shinichi's face. Immediately he produced a handkerchief and wetted with the running water to being wiping down the sides of the face where Shinichi seems to have missed.

"Like whether your teacher would start leaving you alone." Shinichi did not bother telling Kaito to stop, knowing it was a lost cause anyways. Plus he always misses several spots when cleaning up his own face so it would be easier and faster for the magician to handle it.

"She was _enamoured_ with Yuu-san. What do you think?" Kaito took a step back and nodded, seemingly pleased with his work. He then magically produced a comb for Shinichi, who took it gratefully and began combing back the hair to his normal state.

"Then it means my mission is complete." He stated proudly, returning the comb to its owner, which disappeared with a puff of smoke. "It also means you wouldn't be roped into any more of those meddling career counselling sessions as well because you've plotted out what you wanted to do with your life."

"Oh? Am I sensing that you've been called for a counselling then?" Excitement bounced inside indigo eyes as the mind plotted

"No, you're not coming over to Beika High dressed as, and I'm guessing, someone humiliating. You're probably thinking of dressing up as my aunt or something…" Shinichi fixed Kaito with a steady stare.

"Actually, I was thinking of pulling out that red number I bought a few years back, you know the one with the long slit down the side and a dropped neckline? Maybe a red hair wig? But then the Kudo family is generally dark hair and Yukiko-san is blond so it would have been too obvious…"

"No Kaito. You are not dressing up in something that revealing just to humiliate me at my school." Not wanting to linger in the public bathrooms for this particular conversation, Shinichi took the lead to unlock the doors and stepped back out into the park. Thankfully, there was no one in the area in need for the bathroom otherwise it would have been very awkward (two young teens inside a bathroom, locked, by themselves. People can get _ideas_ ).

"Does that mean I can dress-up and come to your school fair then? It's next week isn't it? And I remembered Ran-san saying you like the colour red…" Kaito teased from behind, hands supporting behind his head as he circled to Shinichi's side.

"That's only because it was _her_ favourite colour." Shinichi mumbled, approaching the nearest vending machine.

"Does that mean you have a different favourite colour?" Kaito poked around, his other hand already dropping in the coin. He then blocked Shinichi's view and pressed a seemingly random button from behind his back. "Should I try and guess?"

"You'll never guess it correctly." Shinichi crossed his arms with huff. He was just about to make his purchase when Kaito stepped in.

"Come on, don't be a spoil sport." Bending over, Kaito pulled out two cans of drinks. An iced coffee for the detective and an iced tea for himself. Shinichi looked incredulously between the drinks and the magician offering it to him. Sensing the suspicion, Kaito decided to tag on "I haven't drugged these you know…"

"Of course I know. Just wondering if you had actually stolen from the vending machine, that's all. If you have…" Shinichi stepped back and rummaged through his bag to produce a pair of shining silver handcuffs. "I believe these have your names engraved on it."

"I don't steal without a heist note, you know that." Kaito threw the canned coffee in an upward arc in Shinichi's direction, who caught it on reflex. "And I really did pay for these. I'm not bored enough to rig a vending machine to drop out two cans."

"But you would be bored enough to rig the machine to drop drinks that were not chosen, or even on display."

Kaito opened his own can with a grin that had Shinichi thinking how right he was. He looked at his own can, wondering if it really was coffee. Still, he decided he might as well take the chance.

"Everyone needs some excitement in their lives, so why not these?" Kaito held up his own can, swaying it slightly before taking another drink. "It's like playing Russian Roulette, only less deadly."

Taking a sip, Shinichi was not disappointed as the can looked to be ice coffee but the inside was plain soda water. "At least you remembered I don't like sweet soda."

"Hey, what are friends for then?" Kaito winked, throwing away his own can in the nearby recycling bin. "Now come on, we did say we had a dinner appointment. I remember there's a great family restaurant here and we can grab dinner. You want to stay over for the weekend?"

SHinichi shrugged, he really had not planned on doing anything this weekend so he might as well just go with the flow.

 **-END-**


End file.
